Carlos Chosn Keynote Speech at CES 2017

Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of the Nissan-Renault Alliance took to the stage at the CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas yesterday to outline the key technologies that Nissan is currently working on to bring to market within the next few years.

Autonomous driving plays a massive role, with a timeline mapped out to show:

Level 1: Single Lane Highway (adaptive cruise control with auto-steering to keep in lane)
Level 2: Multi-Lane Highway (can overtake cars on motorway, and change lanes as necessary)
Level 3: Urban Driving
Level 4: Fully Autonomous Driving Capability (Eyes-off, hands-off driving)

ProPilot was already unveiled last year but is due to be rolled out in Level 2 guise for the next version of LEAF, which is to be announced “soon”.

Carlos announced the development of SAM (Seamless Autonomous Motability), which aides autonomous vehicles in situations where they need to break conventional rules of the road (such as crossing a double-white line to avoid roadworks when subject to a man waving you through). In order to operate, SAM would send a request to an operative who would be able to interpret the situation via the road position, camera feeds, and LIDAR information, and plot a route for the car to follow to avoid the blockage. This is being live-tested in California today.

Mr Ghosn said that he expects 25% of all new cars sold worldwide to be electric by 2030 at the latest, up from 1-2% currently.

Nissan also announced the integration of Microsoft Cortana into future vehicles, enabling a more interactive, voice-controlled system for operating car controls such as climate control, radio, and even setting appointments and sending emails whilst driving.

With Mr Ghosn due to make another presentation at the Detroit Motor Show on Monday, keep your eyes peeled for more information about future Nissan technologies!